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Keystone
The Federal Council wants to completely privatize Postfinance. That doesn’t suit everyone: SP, trade unions and trade associations are against it. The project is supported by the SVP, FDP, green liberals and the bankers association.
The Federal Council wants to allow Swiss Post to sell its majority to Postfinance. This would open the way to the further development of Postfinance into a fully-fledged, domestically oriented commercial bank.
These government plans have also met with criticism. In view of the low interest rate environment, the SP, for example, does not believe in the privatization of Postfinance. Rather, the bank must be reorganized as the guarantor of payment transactions, writes the party in a message.
Switzerland and Europe need state-owned banks to finance climate protection. The energy transition offers sufficient investment and credit opportunities. The SP further criticizes the fact that the Federal Council does not present any alternatives to privatization.
According to the trade unions, Postfinance belongs to the general public
The Swiss Confederation of Trade Unions (SGB) is also vehemently against privatization. The institute is a Volksbank with almost three million customers and, as part of the Post, belongs to the general public. Postfinance has a basic service mandate. And this is undermining the Federal Council with its proposal, writes the SGB.
If the federal government and the post office withdrew from Postfinance, payment transactions would have to be secured by granting a license. According to the SGB, this would result in compromises in terms of quality and, not least, of the staff. The bill is a blatant frontal attack on the public service.
The Syndicom trade union shares the same voices. The Federal Council’s idea is a danger to the public service and a helpless attempt to evade the discussion about a state guarantee by lifting the ban on credit and mortgage credit. Syndicom will defend itself with all means, ultimately with the referendum, it says in a message.
Rejection also at the trade association
The proposed privatization is also met with clear rejection by the trade association (SGV). The privatization project serves exclusively the “self-interest of Postfinance”. There is no supply bottleneck in Switzerland’s credit and mortgage market. “Instead of facing the facts, the Federal Council is trying to create a federal bank with false arguments,” said the SGV.
It sounds different with the SVP. The party shares the position of the Federal Council in the Postfinance business, said spokeswoman Andrea Sommer when asked by the Keystone-SDA news agency. For the party, however, the condition for complete privatization is the lifting of the credit ban. This had already been clearly stated in the consultation on the partial revision of the Postal Organization Act.
Is privatization the only way to ensure fair competition?
In the opinion of the FDP, Postfinance privatization is the only and therefore the right way to ensure fair competition in the credit and mortgage market. The FDP could only agree to the lifting of the credit and mortgage ban for Postfinance in conjunction with complete and consistent privatization, a spokesman said on request.
From a business perspective, it is understandable that Postfinance also wants to offer mortgages and loans, the green liberals said. A mandatory condition for this, however, is complete privatization, as the green liberals have been demanding for a long time. The basic supply can also be guaranteed without a state bank through performance contracts.
The Swiss Bankers Association (SBA) made a similar statement. The fundamental decision of the Federal Council is a “step in the right direction”. The decisive factor is that the lifting of the ban on loans and mortgages for Postfinance is necessarily linked to a “binding path for privatization”.
The middle wants to wait
The center recognizes that Postfinance is facing major challenges, a party spokeswoman said on request. However, they are critical of the sole lifting of the ban on lending and mortgage lending.
The Federal Council has now taken this criticism into account and announced that it will support Postfinance’s entry into the credit and mortgage market by surrendering the majority control of Post to Postfinance. That is basically a viable option. It remains to be seen, however, how exactly the Federal Council intends this partial privatization of Postfinance.
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